Started in the autumn of 2010 How to be a bloody good chap has become an outlet of all things for the discerning gentleman (or lady).
Laugh at the ribaldry of the copy and guffaw at the cringeworthiness of my lifestyle in this joyous paean to all things excellent!

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Sunday, 27 May 2012

Voice on the radio: Take My Time (1980) - Sheena Easton

1980 was an important turning point in music
in which the UK really got to grips with the growing interesting in new wave
and electronic music. One of the great pioneers of this genre was the Italian
producer Gorgio Moroder who had distinguished himself throughout the late 1970s
with a string of hit collaborating with Donna Summer and Sparks as well as the
pulsing soundtrack to Alan Parker's Midnight Express. However for me, and I am
sure many others, his crowning glory was his work with a young Sheena Easton on
her oft overlooked and highly impressive debut album.

Packed full of immediately hummable pop
tunes are generously drenched in Moroder's complex synthesisers and drum
machine, but here they work well which is more than can be said by the many
imitators who were to copy her style over the next decade. The stand-out tracks
are of course the hits 'Modern Girl' which has some powerful vocals and a very
pleasing (if very dated) synth solo and of course her transatlantic smash
'Morning Train (9 to 5)' - which many people are surprised to find out was one
of the late DJ John Peel's favourite records! Even if you haven't heard any
other Easton tracks then I can guarantee that you have heard this one so often
is it used in sitcoms to illustrate when a usually redundant character attempts
to hold down a steady job (usually punctuated by humorous pitfalls and
pratfalls).

The overriding reason that this album is so
strong is through some very fine song writing and some very interesting
arrangement, this record was not about pushing new boundaries, it was about
delivering a strong product. Legendary song writing team Bugatti & Musker
contribute a couple of tracks (including 'Modern Girl'). There is also a
powerhouse rhythm sectionand
fantastic backing vocals grounding the album and makes for many danceable
numbers which is certainly what this album was recorded for - this album is so
upbeat you cannot help but smile whilst listening to it! You can almost imagine
Eddie Shoestring playing during his fictitious Private Ear show on Radio West
between receiving calls about wrongs doings in the Bristol area.

Of course, Easton would go on to have a
number of other hits, such as 'For Your Eyes Only' (1981) from the soundtrack
of the Bond film with the same name, the highly controversial 'Sugar Walls'
with its infamous music video which so upset Mrs Al Gore and of course her turn
in Miami Voice as Crockett's ill-fated girlfriend. However it was here, when
she was fresh to the industry - as discovered by Esther Rantzen of all peoplethat I think she was best, that is why
I am very happy to give this album a well deserved 8/10 and strongly advise
that you purchase this record!

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Needing an outlet for the more creative side of my mind, I felt that the time had come for me to inflict all and sundry with a blog that sang the praises of general pursuits of interest, interesting people and the virtues of how to be a bloody good chap!
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